EU countries have agreed to phase out two of these recommended The Swedish Presidency said in a statement that travel-related measures were agreed in the wake of China ending its zero-COVID policy. statement on Thursday.
The countries agreed to lift the requirement for a negative pre-departure COVID-19 test for people traveling to the EU from China by the end of February and end random testing of travelers arriving from China by mid-March.
The move was made “in light of recent epidemiological developments and taking into account the opinion of the Health Safety Committee”, read the statement.
Already, Sweden’s Public Health Agency has announced The country will lift all entry requirements for travelers from China from February 19.
Fears that China lifting its zero-covid policy could lead to new coronavirus variants not yet realized,
A study published last week in the journal The Lancet found the country had no new COVID-19 variants since it lifted its draconian policy. An analysis of cases by researchers in China between November 14 and December 20 found that more than 90 percent of the omicron subvariants were BA.5.2 and BF.7. The European Union’s Diseases Agency (ECDC) told POLITICO that these variants are similar to those circulating in the EU/EEA during the fall of 2022, prior to the surge in cases in China.
ECDC’s own analysis – which included sequencing cases detected through airport arrivals in several European countries and wastewater analysis of airplanes arriving in Europe from China – also found that BA.5.2 and BF.7 were the dominant Although he cautioned at the time that this wastewater data was “quite limited and still being verified.”